Army 2020 Force Structure Realignment

A new Heritage Foundation analysis published last week proposes that the next several months may determine whether the Defense Department will conduct another base realignment and closing (BRAC) in the next decade. The report, issued by the well-known conservative think tank, presents a fiscally-focused case to Pentagon leaders not to disregard the impact of another

Despite the loss of Fort Benning’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, there is still reason to be optimistic about the prospects for economic growth in the Chattahoochee Valley, according to the consultant studying the impact of the cutbacks. Matrix Design Group presented the results on Friday of its assessment of the economic impact of the cuts on the seven counties surrounding the post in west central Georgia. While the loss of the brigade combat team would affect the local housing market, schools, retail spending and personal wages, the region’s economy can overcome the setback and possibly offset it through other missions at Fort Benning, said Sal Nodjomian, the study’s project manager and executive vice president for Matrix …

The loss of 3,350 soldiers from Fort Hood as the Army shrinks its active-duty end strength from 490,000 to 450,000 soldiers will not significantly affect Killeen and the surrounding area of central Texas, according to a study commissioned by the city. “A 3,350-troop reduction, in my opinion, will not cause a significant impact on this region,” Rick Gibbs, the study’s author, told the Killeen Daily Herald. “Where I would worry in my own experience in doing numbers is if you’ve got [a reduction of] 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers — a whole division …

There are a variety of measures the region around Columbus, Ga., as well as the state, should pursue to help the Chattahoochee Valley overcome the loss of Fort Benning’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, according to the consultant studying the reduction’s economic impact. The post is slated to lose 2,800 soldiers by the end of the summer, part of the Army’s latest restructuring, which will shrink its active-duty end strength from 490,000 to 450,000 by the end of fiscal 2018. When dependents are added, the region can be expected to lose about 8,000 residents …

A battalion responsible for handling chemical and biological hazards began its relocation from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Friday with a casing ceremony. Two companies of the 22nd CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Battalion will be moving to Fort Bliss, Texas; one company will move to Fort Hood, Texas; and a fourth will go to Fort Stewart, Ga. A fifth company based at Fort Drum will remain at the New York post. In total, 266 soldiers will be relocating from Aberdeen by July 2017 …

Without the additional funds afforded by allocating $18 billion from DOD’s overseas contingency operations account to base budget needs, as its House counterpart did, the Senate Armed Services Committee had no choice but to endorse the Pentagon’s scheduled drawdown of the Army, under the fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill the panel approved Thursday. The Senate version upholds the administration’s plan to cut the Army’s active-duty end strength from 475,000 this year to 460,000 in FY 2017. Similarly, the measure matches DOD’s request to shrink the Army National Guard from an authorized level of 342,000 soldiers in FY 2016 to 335,000 next year. The size of the Army Reserve would drop from 198,000 troops to 195,000 …